One of the key questions raised by legislators yesterday about Gov. Bobby Jindal’s massive tax overhaul: If Louisiana is outperforming most of the country and already has a low tax burden—as the administration says—why take a risk and try to fix what isn’t broken? Department of Revenue head Tim Barfield says an annual survey of top executives found the perception of Louisiana’s business climate has improved from 47th in the country to 13th. “Now we have a chance to go from pretty good to great,” he says. Economist Loren Scott told legislators he has never seen a boom in Louisiana like the current industrial expansion fueled by low natural gas prices. But, showing his trademark folksiness, Scott says tax reform could “make this more better.” “The tax competition between and among the states is absolutely real,” says Travis Brown, author of How Money Walks. Brown says Louisiana experienced a net loss of more than $6 billion in adjusted gross income from 1995 to 2010, which he attributed largely to the tax climate. He presented a map of the state showing most parishes in red, indicating a loss. The map shows that East Baton Rouge Parish had the third-highest loss, at $1.1 billion, although he didn’t touch on other possible reasons for that loss, such as flight to suburban schools. “The proposal that you have detailed before you is a plan that will turn that map green, and turn it green in a hurry,” Brown says. Read more about Jindal’s tax overhaul plan from Daily Report here. —David Jacobs
Today’s poll question: From the details you’ve seen so far, what do you think of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan for overhauling the state’s tax code?
